Siddaramaiah announces probe into KPSC scam

Opposition leader in the Karnataka assembly H D Kumaraswamy reffers to a report in The Hindu on bribes being demanded for police postings and selections, during the assembly session on Monday. Photo: K . Bhagya Prakash

Following charges of corruption in selection of candidates for gazetted officers’ posts by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), Karnataka Government will study the examination pattern of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to see if it can be adopted by the KPSC to ensure transparency.

In reply to a calling attention notice of Leader of the Opposition H D Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday told the Legislative Assembly that in a day or two, the government would order a probe by a credible agency and seek a report in two or three weeks.

Mr. Kumaraswamy cited reports that appeared in The Hindu on June 10 and June 6 that described the modus operandi of touts who would strike deals between KPSC members and aspiring candidates.

Chief Minister noted that KPSC members could manipulate the interviews as 200 marks had been allotted for it. UPSC does not reveal total marks secured by a candidates till the completion of the interview to avoid manipulation at the interview level, he said.

"The KPSC has not sent a list of selected candidates. The government will withhold the list till the probe is completed," Mr Siddaramaiah said. The examination was conducted for 361 Class ‘A’ and Class ‘B’ officers’ post by the KPSC.

The Chief Minister cited the case of Mythri, an MD in Pediatrics who had topped in the ST category in the KAS exams, being denied the Assistant Commissioner’s post by being given poor marks in the interview by the KPSC members. Ms Mythri had given him a complaint mentioning the cell phone number of persons who had sought a bribe of Rs 70 lakh, he added.

Earlier, Mr Kumaraswamy said that credibility of the KPSC had come under a cloud following the allegations that members demanded huge sums as bribes from candidates for selection and that they manipulated the interviews to favour those who agreed to pay bribes.

Fromer chief minister and Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) leader B S Yeddyurappa demanded reduction of interview marks from 200 to 20 to ensure justice to all students and to eliminate corruption. "How can you expect a transparent and corruption free administration from candidates joining the government service by paying lakhs of rupees as bribes," the KJP chief said.

This is a recurring affair. The Government must contemplate disbanding the Commission. We could have our recruitments done through UPSC with certain variations viz. language etc. tailoring the needs to Karnataka and to ensure astute and able candidates have a fair chance of serving the State of Karnataka. This also saves us the money expended on the Commission and the administrative hassles associated with a corrupt and rowdy like Public Service Commission.

from:
Somanna

Posted on: Jun 10, 2013 at 19:23 IST

The probe is fine , but what about the 2013 preliminary examinations for 270 available seats....the govt. should act briskly and get the preliminary exam process of 2013 to be started...meanwhile they can get issue resolved & save lakhs of students time to be best utilized and stop them off the tension!